OTTAWA – A weather forecast title that was a few days shorter than advertised was not significantly inaccurate enough to violate any broadcast codes, says the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC).
The Weather Network is the English Canadian specialty service devoted to weather information while MétéoMédia is its French-language counterpart. Both services have a standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) channel, which air slightly different content. The CBSC received complaints from a British Columbia viewer who pointed out that a graphic labeled “30 Day” forecast actually displayed only 27 days on the SD channel and 28 days on the HD channel. In its response, the broadcaster explained that technical limitations made it difficult to display a full 30 days on screen without making the font too small.
The CBSC examined the complaints and concluded that the slightly misleading title was not a significant inaccuracy.
“The purpose of the segments was to provide a long-term look at the weather”, the CBSC Adjudicating Panel said in its decision. “This was equally accomplished by providing 27, 28 or 30 days. Despite the errors raised by the complainant, the dates covered were clearly shown across the bottom of the screen. It is highly unlikely that a viewer would somehow be misled.”
The Panel also noted that following receipt of the complaints, the stations modified the title to read “Next 4 Weeks”.
